Return to Habitat

This selection of recent etchings by John Wolseley derives from two journeys.

The Tree Creepers of the Banyena River is the result of a trip to the Richardson River (Djaara name, Banyena) in the Victorian Wimmera, where John immersed himself in the creek systems, connected pools and the life forms they support.

The Bilby and Burrowing Bettong etchings were conceived in 2024 when John travelled to Watikinpirri – Newhaven Australian Wildlife Conservancy – a large tract of protected land dedicated to the return of endangered animals and ongoing habitat recovery.

The renewed presence of these animals is creating an increase in vegetation and natural habitat which has been lost to so much of arid Australia.

John Wolseley first travelled to locations across the central desert in 2006 and has returned regularly to deepen his engagement with Traditional Owners and the biota of Australian desert.

Tidal Zone

Anne McMaster’s coastal images breathe in and out with the rhythm of the moon and tides.

Depicting the Tiwi Islands and north Australian coast, McMaster’s prints and watercolours investigate the coastal aesthetics of mangroves, coral, tidelines and beaches.

Her images incorporate louvered window shapes found in tropical architecture and reference her studio view onto the coastal environment. The works include found objects gathered along the beaches and mangroves such as ropes, corals and driftwood.

In 2019 Anne McMaster was an Artist in Resident at Darwin’s Tactile Arts Studios where she researched the notion of Drift – the motion of the sea, movements in time and elements of tidal flow.

SPRING

Gus Leunig

Ann Cremean

Rosa Purbrick

Angus Cameron

SPRING is a group exhibition celebrating the nature of northeast Victoria. With contrasting styles the artists celebrate the natural environment and seasonal abundance of the place they call home.

View the exhibition catalogue

Gus Leunig

Gus Leunig’s colourful and poetic paintings encapsulate his love of the natural environment in the countryside where he lives in northeast Victoria.

Leunig’s imagery is created through a mixture of observation and imaginative expression. His art features quirky figures which inhabit a complex and whimsical world. The elements in his work are drawn together through a tight compositional framework while creating playful pathways with unexpected encounters. Gus Leunig lives in and works in Avenel, Victoria.

Ann Cremean

Ann is a visual artist creating contemporary landscape paintings from her Melbourne studio. Inspiration comes from the landscapes around Euroa. The granite outcrops, textures of the bush, farmland and waterways are the subjects of her work.

These works are a response to light and movement found in nature. After many hours in the bush around Euroa observing shapes and light, these works are made quickly in the studio based on memory. The images have been given space on the canvas to allow them to float and to appear as fleeting glances of landscapes.

Rosa Purbrick

Rosa Purbrick creates diverse organic images with paint on canvas, works on paper and in mixed media. Rosa lives and works at Tahbilk Winery on the banks of the Goulburn River in Central Victoria. For many years now she has turned her eye to the landscape garnering inspiration not only from Tahbilk but also from her travels into outback Australia.

“I have always been fascinated by nature. Its ability to create ever changing patterns – light dancing across water, clouds transcending skies, their shadow play over the landscape. Strata layering, ridges, triangular formations, the topography. This has been a constant inspiration over the many years of observing the world around me. It is what I hope you see imbued in my work”

Angus Cameron

Based Avenel in the Strathbogie Ranges in northeast Victoria, Angus makes prints and impressions on paper that reflect the environment where he lives. His works embody aesthetics found in nature echoing forms and patterns that make up the micro and macro world of plants and place. The work sits in a space between abstraction and representation. It is a filtered gaze reflecting the patterns and shapes of the land and the life it supports.

Art from the Stone Country

Rare and collectable works on paper from Western Arnhem

Bardayal Nadjamerrek (dec), Ezariah Kelly (dec), England Banggala (dec), Gavin Namarnyilk (dec), Graham Badari, Joe Guymala, Peter Nabarlambarl (dec).

Art from the Stone Country explores the cultural and artistic traditions from Western Arnhem. These artists and cultural custodians represent an historic group who have maintained the practice and knowledge associated of rock art painting on the Arnhem plateau for more than 40,000 years.

Western Arnhem Land is the home of the Mok Clan of the Kunwinjku people who have inhabited their lands for hundreds of generations. Their connection to the country is deeply ingrained in every aspect of life.

Kunwinjku people believe ancestral beings travelled through the country creating landmarks and places in which they continue to dwell, known as Djang (Dreaming). Accordingly, the Kunwinjku people maintain a profound and ancient visual tradition.

Paintings on rock, bark and more recently paper connect with ancient rituals, stories and spiritual associations. Rendered simply and directly with white on red ochre, these paintings narrate the soul and spirit of the Stone Country and its inhabitants.

Featuring: the acclaimed Bardayal Bim

boxed folio of ten etchings.
View the Bardayal Bim Catalogue

And the historic Kunwarrde Bim – Injalak Hill

Suite of 12 etchings in a cloth bound box.

View the Kunwarrde Bim Catalogue 

Anabranch

Gus Leunig and Angus Cameron

ARTBOX – Jacobson’s Outlook, Nagambie

Anabranch can be viewed any time, but will be open on

Saturdays and Sundays from 2 – 24 March, 10.30 am – 12.30 pm

Other times by appointment

For more information contact Rose Cameron

gallery@nomadart.com.au, Tel 0415 912 115

Anabranch is a joint exhibition of paintings and prints examining the artists shared environment along the creek and river systems of the Strathbogie Ranges and beyond.

Anabranch refers to the way in the artists explore elements and pathways of their subject matter but continually return to the essence of the natural environment as a key reference.